Set in 1958. On an NBC game show, “Twenty-One”, a working-class Jewish student remains king of the show for weeks. The show’s producers decide to create a new champion by feeding a new contestant, middle-class Charles Van Doren, with the right answers. He becomes a symbol of intellect to students and the nation. Based on a real life incident.Read More »
In this classic conspiracy thriller, screen icon Robert Redford (Tell Them Willie Boy is Here, The Sting, All the President’s Men, Indecent Proposal) stars as CIA Agent Joe Turner. Code name: Condor. When his entire office is massacred, Turner goes on the run from his enemies…and his so-called allies. After reporting the murders to his superiors, the organization wants to bring Condor in—but somebody is trying to take him out. In his frantic hunt for answers, and in a desperate race for his life, Turner abducts photographer Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway, The Thomas Crown Affair, Eyes of Laura Mars), eventually seducing her into helping him. Every twist leads Condor to the end of his nerves…and will take you to the edge of your seat. And as he zeroes in on the staggering truth, he discovers there are some secrets people would kill to keep. Masterfully directed by Sydney Pollack (Jeremiah Johnson, Tootsie, Out of Africa, Havana) and also starring Cliff Robertson (Charly), John Houseman (The Paper Chase) and the icy Max von Sydow (Needful Things), 3 Days of the Condor endures as one of Hollywood’s finest tales of political paranoia.Read More »
Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.Read More »
“Wim Wenders was bitten by the 3D bug when he made his 2011 dance docu, “Pina,” and he expands the possibilities of the format still further with “Cathedrals of Culture.” Giving all new meaning to the expression “if these walls could talk,” this conceptual six-part omnibus invites half a dozen international helmers to imagine the personalities of various cultural institutions, lending voices to their unique designs while allowing cameras to explore the buildings’ unique architectural features in all their multidimensional glory. Such an overlong and only intermittently absorbing project wouldn’t suffer in the slightest if broken up across several nights for non-3D arts TV, where the otherwise taxing presentation will likely find its broadest audience.Read More »
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A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his nouveau riche neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.Read More »
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“Inside Daisy Clover” is one of those films which divides movie buffs, beloved by some and detested by others. There’s no doubt that it’s an acquired taste, thanks largely to Wood’s bravely quirky, potentially audience-alienating performance in the title role – that of a 1930s teen starlet nurtured and then devoured by Hollywood’s monolithic studio system – one Swan Studios, run by a truly frightening Christopher Plummer (a role played the same year he did “The Sound of Music”).Read More »
After retiring from the rodeo where he was five-time all-around world rodeo champion, Sonny Steele is signed by multinational conglomerate Ampco to be the spokesman for their breakfast cereal, Ranch Breakfast. This corporate job, where he is paraded around on horses in electrically lit cowboy get-ups and where the publicity department makes him grow a mustache to look more like a cowboy, eventually sucks away at his soul, which leads to him taking up the bottle and often being drunk at events. Conversely, the publicity department tries to hide him from the media. Read More »
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When Brubaker (Robert Redford) comes to a small state prison to be its new warden, he’s horrified by what he sees. Prisoners are sold as slaves, and even decent food can’t be obtained without cold, hard cash. So the enraged warden tries to set matters right…but the more he reforms, the more enemies he makes with the townspeople who have benefitted from the corruption. Soon Brubaker’s in big trouble–and it looks as if no one is powerful enough to help. This powerful drama received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.Read More »
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.Read More »